Scientists: origins of ocean plastics can be traced

Australia – Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia have developed a mathematical model to determine which countries are contributing the most to ocean garbage.

According to media reports, the scientists use an algorithm to trace the movements of ocean garbage patches. Because all oceans are interconnected, garbage from one corner of the globe can travel to the other, riding on currents. Based on observations using the new model, ocean debris from East African countries such as Madagascar and Mozambique would ‘most likely flow into the south Atlantic, even though their coastlines border the Indian Ocean’.

The model can also help determine how quickly garbage from one patch leaks into another. ‘We can use the new model to explore, for example, how quickly trash from Australia ends up in the north Pacific,’ one of the researchers explains.

Rubbish amassing in the world’s oceans has become a focus for research in recent years, including into how some of its recyclable elements might best be recovered.

Source: International Business Times